


Dinner & Diatribes

by Yokan



Series: The Other Side - Drabble Collection [4]
Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dinner Date, F/M, Fluff with background gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28905591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yokan/pseuds/Yokan
Summary: Caroline never expected Klaus to be so respectful of that agreement they signed in sweat and incoherent sounds in the woods of Mystic Falls ten year ago, so it was up to her to take a strategic detour to New Orleans and hope he’d take a famous hint. The dinner date is lovely, although it's a little hard to concentrate with Originals fighting werewolves and a blue witch right outside.
Relationships: Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson
Series: The Other Side - Drabble Collection [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119494
Comments: 18
Kudos: 102





	Dinner & Diatribes

**Author's Note:**

> Just a lil funny drabble I wrote a while back. :) For **Ennie** and **Destellolunar** , who kept their parts on a bargain and deserve gold stars! 🌟
> 
> Fic is not beta'ed, so sorry for any mistakes! Also, if you like it, would love to know your thoughts! ❤️ Thank you for reading!

Caroline should've known there was no way this was ever going to be anything resembling _normal_. She just didn't think it would ever be... Well... _This_.

Being a vampire and growing up in a city like Mystic Falls, which is basically the world's magical belly button - although, more accurately, it's more like the world's magical _drain_ , where all kinds of crap get sucked into - you kind of forfeit the right to a normal life. You may cry, you may scream, you may even try to leave it all behind and start anew elsewhere, but magic always finds its way back to you, no matter how far you go. She’s long accepted that they're flames in a world of supernatural moths. There is no escaping it. So they might as well embrace their fates, find a way to live _in spite of_ it all. And if an opportunity for a bit of a social life arises - don’t even question it; just hold on to it like it’s the last drop of water in the desert.

With that thought firmly in mind, she chose to go with the _what the heck_ shrug when Klaus asked her out to dinner while she was passing by New Orleans. Of course, _passing by_ meant _stopping by_ when she really didn't have any good enough excuses for sticking around, waiting to get noticed. It was a bit of a coin toss; if it happened, it was meant to be, if not... Well.

It took Klaus exactly twenty-three minutes to find her. He really does have the city wrapped around his little finger. Color her impressed.

Caroline hadn't seen him in ten years. She was... _curious_. Of course she'd heard all sorts of stories - resurrected Originals, bloody wars raging across the French Quarter, the Strix, whatever the hell that was. Caroline wondered what a decade and the conquest of a city would've done to him, and she's not surprised to find that he is indeed... different. He looks exactly the same, and the dimpled smirk on his face is familiar in a way that makes Caroline feel inappropriate things, but she does not remember Klaus being this composed in the face of chaos. Especially involving his siblings. And a bunch of rabid werewolves. And...

"Is that person... blue?"

"Spell gone wrong, I'm afraid," he speaks calmly, lifting his glass so one of his _employees_ \- that's how Caroline is choosing to call it; she'd rather believe the man is being handsomely paid to wait on the Mikaelsons - can refill it. "More wine, love?"

"I... Yeah. Sure." Klaus nods at the man, smiling at her from behind the hem of his glass while hers gets refilled.

"Are strawberry cheesecakes still your favorites?" he asks mildly. There's a loud _crack_ outside, and Caroline turns to look in time to see Kol flying across the courtyard.

"Klaus," she says. "Your siblings are fighting werewolves and a blue person outside. I think I just saw a fireball. They're trying to burn down your house."

"Nonsense. This house won't burn so easily. It has very good foundations. Besides, I had it spelled against fires back when there was a different one raging across the French Quarter every other day," he says flippantly.

"Elijah just got bitten by two wolves," she remarks, wide-eyed and disbelieved. "And now he's biting the guy _back_?" Caroline makes a little disgusted sound under her breath, scrunching up her face when Elijah rips the man's head off with his _teeth_.

"Yes, it seems like it," Klaus replies around a sigh, unbelievably bored. "Do you have any ideas how many peaceful evenings I get to have around here? There's always someone trying to start an uprising for some reason, somewhere. When it's not wolves, it's witches, when not witches, vampires, when not vampires, it's my own bloody family. I haven't seen you in a decade, sweetheart, so I'm clinging to this evening until one of those rascals flies through my French doors and ruins our dessert, in which case I will be forced to retaliate. Otherwise, I'm staying put. If you've changed your mind about our date, love -"

"No," she hurries to reply. “I didn’t.”

The slow self-satisfied grin tugging at his lips is positively _obscene_.

Klaus' Henley clings to his torso at just the right places, the first couple of buttons undone, revealing the beaded necklaces around his neck. His hair is longer than she's ever seen, styled rather fashionably, and all Caroline can think is that she wants to bury her fingers in those silky-looking curls and then pull. Klaus looks more appetizing than anything he's served tonight, so no, Caroline does not regret saying yes to the invitation she oh, so smoothly sought. She never expected Klaus to be so respectful of that agreement they signed in sweat and incoherent sounds ten year ago, so it was up to her to take a strategic detour and hope he'd take a famous hint.

It's just... Well, it's a little awkward, sitting here with classic music and people waiting on them while Rebekah's skirt is on fire right outside. _Do you have any idea how much this cost, you ogre?! This is vintage Chanel!_

"Uhm... Aren't you worried they might die?" she asks, tearing her eyes from Kol stabbing a man with what looks like a table leg, cutting to the incredibly enticing movement of Klaus' throat as he swallows his wine.

He scoffs. "Please. Four werewolves and a witch that can't even fix her own botched spells? If they die, it'll be well deserved and I won't be attending their funerals."

The creases on Caroline’s forehead deepen. "You're all completely insane around here, aren't you?"

"This city does have a way of twisting people's sanity, yes," he says calmly. "But is it really insane that I just want to have a quiet night in with an old _friend_?" A soft smile curls his lips as he stresses the word in a way that leaves no doubt as to all the lewd intentions underneath. Caroline tries not to blush. Probably fails. "As far as wishes go, that's a rather simple one."

"You're apparently in the wrong family for that," she counter, sipping from her glass. The wine is _fantastic_. "And the wrong city, too, I guess."

Klaus shrugs just as what looks like a human _hand_ hits the glass doors, leaving a gory splotch of red.

"For goodness' sake," he grumbles, putting his palms flat on the table as he pushes up from his chair. " _Rebekah_! We're trying to eat in here!"

Rebekah comes to stand right in front of the door, a grim expression on her blood-stained face, hands firmly planted on the sides of her charred skirt. "Oh, I'm sorry, Nik. Am I disturbing your romantic endeavors whilst fighting for my life?"

"Yes, dear sister. You are, indeed. Can't you wrap this up or go play with your food outside?"

"I -" Rebekah is cut off by a fireball flying right over her head. "We could do with a little hand, you know?"

Klaus shakes his head, exhaling in frustration as he turns back to Caroline, his expression instantly softening. "Would you like to join me upstairs, love? The view is lovely from the balcony and we won't be disturbed by my barbaric and incredibly incompetent siblings."

Caroline smiles sheepishly, not quite disguising her excitement. "Well, I do love a good view."

Klaus offers her his arm as he guides her up the stairs. Caroline's hand balls next to her as she refrains from touching the dimple denting his cheek, missing the feel of his stubble under her fingertips, wanting to follow up with her lips. The night is young, though.

"Next time," Klaus starts. "We'll go out. There's a lovely restaurant called Antoine's, just around the corner. I'll get us a private room or perhaps I'll have them close the courtyard for us, and we'll have a nice dinner without interruptions. Then we'll go for a stroll across the Quarter, beignets at Café du Monde, a walk around Jackson Square, the view of the Mississippi at night from a terrace bar. I'll show you all my favorite places. Perhaps you might yet fall in love with New Orleans."

Caroline looks up at him, drawing just a tiny bit closer, and smiles. "Perhaps I might."


End file.
